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Nationalism, Ethnicity and Religion: Fundamental Conflicts and the Politics of Identity in Tanzania
Author(s) -
Campbell John
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
nations and nationalism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.655
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1469-8129
pISSN - 1354-5078
DOI - 10.1111/j.1354-5078.1999.00105.x
Subject(s) - political economy , politics , nationalism , national identity , sociology , legitimacy , ethnic group , political science , state (computer science) , retrenchment , identity politics , identity (music) , gender studies , law , public administration , algorithm , computer science , physics , acoustics
. This article explores the competing relations between ethnic, religious and racial identities in contemporary Tanzania at a time of rapid socioeconomic change and in the face of the declining authority and legitimacy of the state. During nearly four decades of one‐party rule the state has pursued policies ‐ educational, linguistic, developmental, etc. ‐ aimed at constructing a secular national identity capable of uniting diverse social groups under the banner of African socialism. However, economic retrenchment in the 1980s and political liberalisation in the 1990s has contributed directly to a series of upheavals leading many Tanzanians to redefine the structures of common difference and to a fracturing of national identity. This article seeks to understand the reasons for the upsurge of conflict and cultural fragmentation in the 1990s.